Would you change tires if.....

[mayassa]

I picked up my 2008 with 1800 miles on her tires look brand new, I am surprised the don't show any signs of being 4 years old. Would you swap them out for new one's, or just try to get a season on them?

 

[dxh24]

I'd get them changed ASAP, old tires can be as bad as bald tires. Rubber wears poorly over time, even of they look good they likely aren't


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[Drinky]

I'd leave em on if they feel good. Ride em warm, take some corners and see how it holds up.
Touch the tires when you stop and feel how warm they get. 4 years is not too bad.
If rubber gets old it hardens out and feels less sticky, you should be able to feel the difference.

edit; also, why do you think they are 4 years old? did you check the manufacturing date on the tire??

 

[mayassa]

I'd leave em on if they feel good. Ride em warm, take some corners and see how it holds up.
Touch the tires when you stop and feel how warm they get. 4 years is not too bad.
If rubber gets old it hardens out and feels less sticky, you should be able to feel the difference.

edit; also, why do you think they are 4 years old? did you check the manufacturing date on the tire??

Good point they may be older.... The guy I bought her from never rode her much less the 2000 miles in 4 years. He told me the tires were original. They still have chicken strips on the sides. He was very honest with me and told me the bike scared him in turns.

 

[FB400]

I think those tires are good for 5 years and even with that said some guys would push it a little further. There will be those on this forum that disagree with that advice. Unless you are the type of rider prone to putting a knee down, I say use 'em for this season.

If I were you I would get a season out of them and then make sure you change them out over the winter. trust me you will hesitate because of all the good tread you see. But, it will be time at that point to get new rubber.

disclosure: I got my '06 with 2,890 miles. they were almost 4 years old. I rode them from November 2009 to September 2010 and then changed them out to Pilot Road 2's with 9027 miles on the original BT020's. They had a few more thousand miles of tread left and had begun to square off.. but it was time. I never felt the bike slip or act erratically using them

 

[oaks]

Good point they may be older.... The guy I bought her from never rode her much less the 2000 miles in 4 years. He told me the tires were original. They still have chicken strips on the sides. He was very honest with me and told me the bike scared him in turns.

If you want to be sure of the tire age, the week of manufacture is on the tire. Here is a pic from the original tires on my 2009 which I bought in late 2010. "4608" = made the 46th week of 2008. Still some good tread on them, but I'll replace them this year for peace of mind.

 

[mayassa]

My tires born on date are 48 week of 07, I think I'm going to just replace them. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[mayassa]

Tires ordered and on sale with 2 day free shipping.

120/70 17, 180/55 17 Michelin Pilot Road 3 Tire Kit - Chaparral Motorsports

 

[Randomchaos]

I bought my 07 model in 2011, with stock tires manufactured in 2006. Just replaced them a few months ago due to lack of tread left . Rode the dragon with them, devil's triangle, and many other curvy roads. Never had a problem with them, though I never pushed them to the edge.

 

[mave2911]

5 years is the recommended limit - have a look at the sidewall and it'll tell you the week and year of manufacture.

If the bike has been sitting for some time, that's even worse.

Why gamble with what faceless people on an internet forum may say?

Grab new tyres and then you don't have to worry about them.

Just think, if the hardened rubber slips going around even a slow corner - the resulting damage will quite likely add up to more than new tyres would have cost you. (not even considering the heightened chance for injury)

My 2c anyway.

Cheers,
Rick

EDIT: Check the country the PR3s were made in - as there have been a couple of failures!

 

[ba4x]

+1 for new tires! I went down on a bike with 4 year old tires when the back came out... still not sure what to think of it. Just get the peace of mind and drop the cash, it's worth it.

 

[Motogiro]

+1 for new tires! I went down on a bike with 4 year old tires when the back came out... still not sure what to think of it. Just get the peace of mind and drop the cash, it's worth it.

I think yours is a typical incident with old rubber.

I was on old rubber that was over 4 years old and aware enough to not go hard on the tires till I got my new ones. I could tell the way the rubber sloughed off the tire it was dangerous.
I bought a bike that was new on the showroom floor for 3 years.

 

[red06]

i was in the same position , i used them for about 10k miles , inspect them for cracking if no sign there is nothing wrong with them

 

[mayassa]

For less than $300 shipped, I couldn't pass them up they will be tomorrow and installed Thursday.